Screw-driver



(No Model.)

W. L. VPARMELEE. SCREW DRIVER.

No. 339,456. Patented Apr. 6, 1886.

/Q/ y@ 1) .il @wmf W mmia vfacture.

ilnrrnn STATES Pnfrnnfr @trineo W'ILLlAM L. PARMELEE, OF BlRll'IlNGHr/XM, CONNECTICUT.

SCREW-DRIVER.

"iii LCFJLCATIDN forming part of illlettersY Patent No.'339,456, dated April 6, 1856,

Applicationied February 2, 1886. Serial No. 190,680,

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, TILLIAM L. Pantin- LE1:,a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county ofeNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Screw- Drivers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in screw-drivers; and it consists in the peculiar and novel construction and combination of parts, substantially as hereinafter fully set 1ortb,and spccificall y pointed ont in the claims.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved screw-driver with means whereby the blade can be held at an angle to the handle, so that greater leverage can be applied to the handle in starting or turninga screw that has become rusted or otherwise firmly seated in its socket; to provide means whereby a reversible blade can be quickly and readily adjusted to adapt the same to operate upon or it screws of different diameters without delacing or otherwise injuring the y work,and to provide au improved screwdriver which shall possess great strength, durability, and simplicity of construction,which shall be thoroughly effective for the purposes designed, easy and ready of adjustment and operation, and cheap and inexpensive of manul attain the above objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation of a screw-driver constructed in accordance with my invention, the blade being adjusted at right angles tothe handle 'for the purpose of applying greater power to the device for turning a rust-ed screw,&c. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, showing the blade adj usted in alignment with the handle. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the device in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detached sectional view of a part of the handle, to more clearly show the seat for the end of the blade that is out of use, and Fie'. 5 isa crosssectional view through the handle on the line .fc :c of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures, A designates the blade of (No model.)

my improved screw-driver, which is made of twice the usual length and is tapered and provided at each end with sharpened or beveled edges, as at a c', thus forming a doubleended blade. The ends c a of the blade are preferably made of different sizes or widths, so that either end can be reversed to bring the other end into use to accommodate different sizes of screws without injuring or defacing the wood or other work into which the screw is to be forced or from which it is to be withdrawn. At its middle the doubleended reversible blade Ais provided with the slot afi, that extendsin the direction of its longitudinal axis, and through this slot passes the pivot on which the blade turns when re versing it to bring one ofthe ends a or c into position ior use.

B designates the handle of my improved screw-driver, which comprises the laterallydiverging clamping or binding arms C C', and a segment or bow-shaped arm, C2, all of which are formed in a single piece of metaliron, steel, brass, or any other preferred metal.

The arms C C' of my improved handle gradually converge toward each other at their er@ tremities, and between these arms is clamped the reversible blade A. The bou-'shaped arm C2 is made comparatively thin and curved in cross section, as shown in Fig. 5, and the clamping or binding arms gradually increase in'thickness from the points where they join the bow-shaped arm to their extremities, on the inner faces of which they are made fiat and straight at the points where they come in contact wit-h the opposite faces of the reversible blade to provide greater bearing-surfaces and more firmly grasp the said blade, while their outer faces are curved or rounded. By thus constructing the handle l am enabled to impart to the binding-arms C C aslight springaction which serves to normally force them outwardly away from each other, and to overcome this tendency of the spring-arms to draw away from the blade A, I providea screw-bolt and adjusting-screw, b b. The arm C of the handle is provided with a transverse opening having an enlarged outer end or head, and an opening is also provided in the arm C', these openings being formed in the free ends of the arms at points where they are provided with the straight contact-faces. The head of the ICO bolt or pin b fits in the enlarged end of the pin or bolt, passes through the slot a2 of the blade and the opening in the arm C, where it receives the adjusting or binding screw b that bears against the outer face of the arm C. It will readily be seen that by tightening up or adjusting the binding-screw on the threaded end of the pin or bolt the yielding clampingarms will be drawn toward each other and bear on the blade with sufficient force to iirmly and rigidly hold the latter in place.

The metallic handle is very light, simple, strong and desirable in its construction, is not liable to break, crack, and get out of order, as in the case of the ordinary wooden handles with the metallic ferrule at present commonly employed. Its shape is such as can be conveniently and securely grasped, held and operated, and it is cheap and inexpensive to manufacture.

In lieu of employing the headed screw bolt or pin and the binding-screw, it is obvious that I may employ the ordinary headed and threaded thumb-screw, a plain aperture being provided in one spring bindingarm and a threaded opening in the other arm to receive the threaded shank of the screw, whereby the arms can be adjusted. The handle is of such a length that when the blade A is in alignment therewith the end that is out of use fits within the skeleton-shaped arm CJ thereof, as indicated in Fig. 3, and any lateral movement ofthe blade is prevented, as will be apparent.

In lieu of making the curved arm C2 of the handle skeleton-shaped or hollow, it may be of the same thickness as the yielding bindingarms', and be provided with a seat or socket, Z, for the end of the blade that is thrown out of use, as shown in section in Fig. 4:.

The operation of my invention is obvious. When it is desired to loosen a screw that has become Very tirmly embedded in the wood or other work, or for other purposes where it is necessary and desirable to exert great force on the screw, the blade is turned at right angles to the handle, as shown in Fig. l,l and one end of the blade fitted in the head of the screw, the thumb-nut being adjusted to very rmly and rigidly hold the blade in its proper position. The upper free end of the blade .is grasped by one hand to steady the implement and hold it in proper place, while the other hand is employed to rotate the handle B in a horizontal plane, and tliusturn the blade and with it the screw.

l 1When the 'device is to be used in the same manner as any ordinary screw-driver, the blade is turned so as to be in alignment with the handle between the clamping-arms thereof. The blade is then moved longitudinally, with the slotted portion a2 thereof sliding over the pivot pin or bolt b, to adapt the end of the blade to the bow-shaped arm C2; after which the blade is moved upwardly and the thumbnut turned to cause the yielding arms to bite on the blade to secure the same in place. Either end a or a of the plate can be secured or adjusted for use, the blade being readily reversible and adjustable for this purpose, and the blade can also be detached from the handle when it becomes broken, or for any other reason.

I do not desire to limit myself to the exact details of construction and form and proportion of parts herein shown and described as an embodiment of my invention, as I am aware that changes therein can be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. A screw-driver consisting of a handle having the yielding clamping-arms, and a longitudinally-adjustable blade pivoted in and clamped between said arms, substantially as described.

2. A screw-driver comprising a handle provided with yielding binding-arms, and a slottween said arms, the inner end of the blade adapted to be retained against lateral displacement within the bow which connects said arms, substantially as described.

3. In a screw driver, a handle made or prising the tapering bindingarms having the straight inner faces, and the hollow or curved bow-shaped arm connecting the binding-arms, in combination with a reversible and longitudinally-adjustable blade having a slot, and a threaded pin or bolt provided with a binding-screw, substantially as described.

In testimony'whereofI atx my signature in presence oi' two witnesses.

VILLIAM L. PARMELEE.

lVitncsses:

EDWIN B. GAGER, JOHN C. SHELLY.

formed of a single piece of metal, and comj ted blade having longitudinal adjustment bes IOO 

